A Marketer’'s Guide to Ace Back to (Home) School Shopping

In a pre-pandemic world, Back to School is typically synonymous with families gearing up for more regular routines dictated by school, sports and fall activities. However, Back to School 2020 will be anything but normal. The typical signals that trigger the back-to-school kickoff like Amazon Prime Day and Back to College shopping have also shifted this year, with Prime Day expected to be in October and the continuing pandemic impacting returns to college. While a significant amount of the country is still unclear on what the fall school schedule will look like – at home, onsite or a hybrid of both – families are preparing for less routine and more work/life chaos, managing work schedules and the demands of home schooling. Here are some trends we see taking shape in the retail space and steps marketers can take to address them.